Daniel Ricciardo Canadian GP Victory Ends Mercedes AMG Winning Streak

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo finally ended Mercedes AMG’s six-race winning streak in the 2014 Formula One World Championship after claiming victory yesterday in the Canadian Grand Prix. The Australian capitalized on car trouble experienced by Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, both of which looked set to repeat their past performance early in the race, to take home his maiden F1 victory after joining the sport in 2011.

The race got underway in very hot conditions, with the track temperature at 122 degrees F (50 degrees C). Pole-sitter Rosberg got a clean start and so did Hamilton, who was second on the grid. It looked like it would be another Mercedes one-two but a high-voltage control electronics failure caused a permanent loss of power from the kinetic energy recovery system, on Hamilton’s car on lap 36 and Rosberg’s just one lap later. Both drivers would fight on, but Hamilton was forced to retire on lap 46 owing to overheating rear brakes.

Rosberg was in the lead up until the final laps, but it was on number 68 that Ricciardo overtook him. The German was second in the end and still leads the championship, while Red Bull Racing’s other driver Sebastian Vettel finished third. The reigning world champion battled past Force India’s Sergio Perez two laps from the finish but didn't get a chance to challenge Rosberg for second place as a crash involving Perez and Williams' Felipe Massa saw the race end under the safety car. Massa attempted to overtake Perez but the Mexican made a small course adjustment as he approached turn one and the two cars made contact. Both were pitched off-track at high-speed and hit the barriers hard.

The safety car was also present on lap 1 after the two Marussia cars collided. Both cars were severely damaged and retired from the race. Marussia driver Max Chilton later received a three-place grid penalty for the next race for causing the incident.

Finishing fourth was McLaren’s Jenson Button, who ended up benefiting from the last lap chaos. Towards the end, he was only eighth but managed to overtake Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and then was upgraded to the fourth place finish during the safety car lap at the end. Fifth went to Hulkenberg and sixth to Alonso. Valtteri Bottas was seventh for Williams, with Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne taking eighth and McLaren’s other driver Kevin Magnussen taking ninth. Tenth place was taken by Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen.

Both Mercedes drivers maintain a clear lead in the 2014 Drivers’ Championship, with Rosberg now moving up to 140 points. Hamilton’s tally is unchanged at 118 points while Ricciardo now springs into third with 79 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes is the clear leader with 258 points versus the 139 of Red Bull Racing and 87 of Ferrari. The next race on the calendar is the revived Austrian Grand Prix, which takes place in a fortnight at the former A1-Ring in Spielberg.

Below are top ten results of the 2014 Formula One Canadian Grand Prix: